I use real dishes/silverware. Plastic and paper generates waste so I tend to avoid it. And I think plastic ware is generally useless. I rarely ever cook for more than 5 people anymore, so I usually don't worry about the convenience of disposable vs real. So it is an easy choice for me.

I prefer real, but have no problem with paper/plastic if that is what my host/hostess serves my food on. They go through so much work to prepare such a large meal that if they do not want to have to deal with dishes after then I can completely understand that. We actually ate on the fine china last night so that was kind of nice, but my food would have tasted just as good off paper.

When we were fixing meals for 36+ people we used extra large styro heavy duty plates but regular silverwear. The reason for this was because no one would help with the cleanup. We spent two days cooking and all of my siblings and their familys would eat the food and pack up the kids so they could go to the other inlaw's houses for another meal. I kid you not, they would put coats on the kids at the dinner table and out the door they would go.No thanks or offers to help.

sounds like my group. so yesterday we went to marie callanders, they had already gone to in laws. but they spent the dinner planning a bowling party after. i don't think they get the true meaning of thanksgiving. do you? i have always used reg. dishes for main meal. and cute paper ones themed to thanksgiving for dessert. regular silverware and glasses though. no one has ever offered to help with clean up. so i was stuck with all the cooking, then all the mess. hence marie callanders. which by the way , was pretty much just awful.

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"life isn't about how to survive the storm but how to dance in the rain"

If someone is feeding me, I don't care what they serve it on as long as it is clean. I do prefer regular plates and flatware, but if the plates and plasticware are sturdy, they would be fine.

I have never had many people over for Thanksgiving dinner, but I used regular plates (I don't have fine china--I use Corelle) and flatware. Plates aren't that big a deal to wash, and I'm so cheap I would probably end up washing the plasticware anyway! LOL

If I were feeding a very large crowd, I would probably buy very good quality paper plates and very sturdy plasticware. None of my friends and family would care. This problem has never come up however. I don't have a lot of friends (and most of them had Thanksgiving with their families), and my family (which is small) is in California.

I prefer using real plates and flatware, because they're more sturdy, and I would have no problem borrowing more if I needed more; when my brother and his then-girlfriend had Thanksgiving at their place several years ago, I packed up a tote of dishes, flatware, serving dishes and utensils, and tablecloths, and took them along, because I had them and they didn't But at someone else's house, I wouldn't worry about it.

I have a set of 12 Christmas dishes I've used at Thanksgiving before (they're glass with a Christmas tree molded into them, so you can't really tell they're not "Thanksgiving" dishes) and I don't mind mixing those with my everyday dishes so I'll have enough. But I've never had more than 14 for dinner at my house.

I also have a set of 12 small glass buffet dishes I use for cocktail parties (I got them at a Goodwill store for $1 apiece) and a couple dozen mismatched wine glasses I got at a thrift store for about 50 cents each.

__________________The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again. ~ George Miller